The English hotel sector contests the plan for a levy on overnight stays. A jewel among Italy’s villages, Santarcangelo di Romagna is instead planning to introduce it from 2027—and others in Italy will apply it once again.
The notorious tourist tax, which reopens the confrontation between administrations and tourism businesses, is being discussed fervently among operators, in Italy as in the United Kingdom. According to a YouGov survey of 6 October, 51 per cent of Britons are against the tourist tax. The plan to tax tourists comes at the government’s instigation and, needless to say, has met with a firm “no” from the hospitality industry—to the point of drawing the attention of the national press, which has devoted an in-depth report to the issue. In essence, Anthony Burnham’s government is considering granting certain territorial authorities the power to apply the levy on gentle wayfarers.
In Italy, the law already allows provincial capitals, unions of municipalities, tourist resorts, and cities of art to apply the levy. There is debate and apprehension, because what in the 2025 budget law were merely “early signs of increases” then duly came to pass. Confindustria Alberghi, Assohotel, Faita, and Federalberghi fiercely opposed the government’s extension of the incremental measures on the tourist tax for the current year, but the increase to as much as €12 was then authorised and applied—for example, in Milan to five-star hotels. Further south too, in Rimini, the tax is progressive: essentially one euro per hotel star, up to a total of five euros. From the province to the municipality, little Santarcangelo di Romagna is considering it, with the local government having decided to introduce the tax, placing it on the calendar among the objectives to be checked off next year. The administration of Tonino Guerra’s village frames the tax within the process of “developing the destination.” Mayor Filippo Sacchetti sees the tourist tax “as a source of resources to strengthen the town’s appeal,” adding to the efforts already under way to position the village’s promotion on the international stage. The mayor of Santarcangelo believes he can offset the extra burden on tourists by lowering the cost of night-time parking in the blue-line zones and, consequently, the cost of the daily ticket, which should be halved from €12 to €6—as if all the tourists visiting the village travelled by car.
In short, two tourism contexts—the English and the Romagna one—that do not speak the same language, yet face common problems. The decision is made, at central or municipal level, to finance the quality of domestic tourism in order to improve services, infrastructure, and destination management, by taxing the tourist and indirectly weighing on the tourism operator who, in many cases, is trying to keep the accommodation offering competitive.
Back across the Channel, UKHospitality fears price rises and bureaucracy should the measure be applied. And it cites a study by Oxford Economics according to which a general 5 per cent levy, by 2030, could result in around 33,000 fewer jobs and a contraction in economic activity of £2.24 billion.
According to analysts, administrations must make visible the works financed through the tax and justify the contribution asked of guests—precisely in order to justify the tourist tax itself. Meanwhile, several small Italian municipalities have introduced the tourism levy. Consider Moncalvo, in the Monferrato. Valtellina, where this year the tax came into force with rates from €1.50 to €3 per night. Borgomanero, in the province of Novara. Finally, there is Maratea, which has decided to extend its already-existing tax into next year.
Andrea G. Cammarata